Saturday Papers: Germany rejects May’s Brexit transition hopes

Top stories

Financial Times: Germany and France have dashed British hopes of fast-tracking talks on a two-year post-Brexit transition deal, insisting that the UK’s EU divorce bill be resolved first.

The Guardian: The US has escalated its trade dispute with Britain and Canada by announcing plans to slap a further 80% duty on the export of planes built by Bombardier.

The Independent: The US economy experienced a shock fall in jobs in September, the first monthly decline since 2010; the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that non-farm payrolls declined by 33,000 in the month, against analysts' expectations of 90,000 new jobs.

Financial Times: Renault aims to increase profitability by 50% in five years and double its vehicle sales outside its European heartland.

The Guardian: Spain’s third largest bank is to move its registered office from Catalonia in the latest fallout for businesses from the political tensions in Spain.

The Times: The owner of British Gas could be forced to cut its dividend if the government caps standard energy tariffs, analysts warned yesterday.

Business and economics

The Times: The average price of a house has hit a record of just over £225,000, according to Britain’s biggest mortgage lender Halifax.

The Independent: In the latest twist in the Ryanair pilots’ saga, the airline’s boss has written to flight crew to offer them a loyalty bonus — while warning about job prospects in what he calls “a very insecure industry”.

The Independent: UK house prices rose at their fastest pace since February, taking average values to a new record high, according to Halifax.

Financial Times: Apple’s top lawyer, who has guided it through battles with Samsung and Qualcomm, is retiring, as the Silicon Valley company brings in a new general counsel from Honeywell.

Daily Mail: Asset manager Royal London will vote against James Murdoch's re-election as chairman of Sky on Thursday, it confirmed yesterday.

The Guardian: The Ryanair chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has issued an unprecedented apology to his pilots in an attempt to stem the crisis at the Irish airline, which has cancelled thousands of flights and faced the threat of an employee revolt.

The Daily Telegraph: Alex Baldock, the Shop Direct boss, has ­announced he is leaving the online ­retailer next summer after seven years at the helm.

The Guardian: Royal Mail will take legal action against the union representing postal workers if it does not withdraw its notice of a 48-hour strike by Monday.

The Daily Telegraph: Car dealership chain Motorpoint has shrugged off recent sales gloom in the automotive industry to post an 18% jump in revenue.

The Daily Telegraph: Finsbury Food has confirmed the closure of its loss-making Grain D’Or pastry factory, with the loss of up to 250 jobs.

Financial Times: Oracle has bowed to years of shareholder unrest by halving the pay of co-founder Larry Ellison, who for years has been at or near the top of rankings of the highest-paid US business leaders.

Financial Times: MS&AD, Japan’s largest non-life insurer, has continued its multibillion dollar overseas acquisition spree by agreeing to invest up to £800 million in a UK unit of Swiss Re that specialises in so-called closed-book portfolios.

The Times: Provident Financial is unlikely to recover from damaging changes to its agents network and has mishandled its problems, according to its former boss.

The Daily Telegraph: ARM Holdings has hired more than 1,000 new staff since its sale to SoftBank, suggesting the British microchip giant’s Japanese owner is following through on its pledges to increase investment in the UK.

Financial Times: The pressure on British corner shops has been highlighted by store chain Nisa, which revealed sales growth lagging the broader grocery market.

The Daily Telegraph: Royal Mail has given the postal union until Monday to call off strikes planned for later this month, after which it will apply for a legal injunction.

The Times: The Greek government says that the country can expect economic growth and job creation after eight years of recession.

The Daily Telegraph: The US is seeking to impose even more tariffs on Bombardier's aircraft, which are built in Northern Ireland, proposing hiking trade duties on the C-Series to almost 300%.

The Times: Dame Carolyn McCall’s valedictory results at Easyjet will show a profit crash of roughly 17% and earnings down 40% from two years ago.

The Times: Output per hour worked fell sharply in the 12 months after Britain voted to leave the European Union, raising fresh concerns about the UK’s poor productivity record.

The Guardian: The US state department has approved the possible sale of a anti-missile defence system to Saudi Arabia at an estimated cost of $15 billion, the Pentagon said on Friday, citing Iran among regional threats.

The Times: Demand for German goods is soaring despite a higher-value euro, the economy ministry said yesterday as it announced the highest monthly rise of the year so far.

The Daily Telegraph: Glencore is to spend $973 million buying a majority stake in Chevron’s oil assets in South Africa and Botswana, just days after shoring up its grip on a Peruvian zinc miner.

Financial Times: EasyJet posted record passenger numbers over the summer as it benefited from the struggles of rivals in the fiercely competitive European short-haul airline market.

Daily Mail: After securing a £2 million investment from private equity group Jaguar Alternatives, EasyCoffee is ramping up its store expansion programme.

The Daily Telegraph: A bidding war has erupted over the US’ fifth largest cement maker after a mystery rival bidder trumped the offer made by the maker of Tarmac with a $3.8 billion (£2.9 billion) counter proposal.

Pension freedoms are here to stay. Despite prophecies of doom, they have provided greater choice over how and when people retire, and provided greater understanding of how the system works, with most sensible savers seeking advice.

Do customers actually know what a platform is and how much they are paying for it? The platform study is set to have a greater effect on the retail investment and distribution landscape than the asset management market study.

The role of the financial planner is evolving to aid clients with their personal lives, from motivational speaking to media training. Taking on these extra responsibilities is making the role more fulfilling for IFAs.

We use cookies to give you the best experience on our website. You can continue to use the website and we'll assume that you are happy to receive cookies. If you would like to, you can find out more about cookies and managing them at any time here. This site is for Professional Investors only, please read our Risk Disclosure Notice for Citywire’s general investment warnings

We use cookies to improve your experience. By your continued use of this site you accept such use. To change your settings please see our policy.